System for presenting media programming guides

ABSTRACT

A system for presenting media programming guides is disclosed. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media receiver having a controller element to generate a Media Program Guide (MPG) that groups media programs according to a redundancy of media programs and a viewing history of a subscriber of the media receiver. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/777,364 filed Jul. 13, 2007 which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to media guides and morespecifically to a system for presenting media programming guides.

BACKGROUND

Current implementations of Electronic Programming Guides (EPGs) aretypically presented in a flat graphical user interface in a calendarmatrix. With hundreds of media channels and corresponding media programsavailable on a weekly basis, navigating through an EPG can be dauntingto subscribers.

A need therefore arises for a system for presenting media programmingguides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication system;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a portal of the communicationsystem;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary method operating in portions of thecommunication system;

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary embodiments for presenting a media programmingguide according to the method of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Broadly stated, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosureprovide a system for presenting media programming guides.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storagemedium can have computer instructions for collecting a viewing historyof media programs, receiving a request for presentation of an ElectronicProgramming Guide (EPG), scanning the EPG for redundant media programs,grouping the redundant media programs, reorganizing the EPG according tothe grouped media programs and the viewing history of media programs,and presenting the reorganized EPG.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a media receiver can have acontroller element to generate a Media Program Guide (MPG) that groupsmedia programs according to a redundancy of media programs and a viewinghistory of a subscriber of the media receiver.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storagemedium operating as an Internet portal can have computer instructionsfor presenting at an Internet browser operating from a communicationdevice an MPG that groups media programs according to a redundancy ofmedia programs and a viewing history of a subscriber of a mediareceiver.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication system 100.The communication system 100 can represent an IPTV broadcast mediasystem. In a typical IPTV infrastructure, there is at least one superhead office server (SHS) which receives national media programs fromsatellite and/or media servers from service providers of multimediabroadcast channels. In the present context, media programs can representaudio only content, video only content, and/or combinations thereof. TheSHS server forwards IP packets associated with the media content tovideo head servers (VHS) via a network of video head offices (VHO)according to a common multicast communication method.

The VHS then distributes multimedia broadcast programs to commercialand/or residential buildings 102 housing a gateway 104 (e.g., aresidential gateway or RG). The gateway 104 distributes broadcastsignals to media receivers 106 such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs) which inturn present broadcast selections to media devices 108 such as computersor television units managed in some instances by a media controller 107(e.g., an infrared or RF remote control). Unicast traffic can also beexchanged between the media receivers 106 and subsystems of the IPTVmedia system for services such as video-on-demand (VoD).

The IPTV media system can be coupled to one or more computing devices130 that can operate as a web server for providing portal services overan Internet Service Provider (ISP) network 132 to fixed media devices108 or portable communication devices 116 by way of a wireless basestation 117 such as in a cellular communication network operating withcommon protocols (GSM, CDMA, etc.).

A satellite broadcast system can be used in place of the IPTV mediasystem. In this embodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 115 canbe intercepted by a satellite dish receiver 131 coupled to building 102which conveys media signals to the media receivers 106. The mediareceivers 106 can be equipped with a broadband port to the ISP network132. Although not shown, the communication system 100 can also becombined or replaced with analog or digital broadcast distributionssystems such as cable systems. It would be apparent therefore to one ofordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure can be applied toany broadcast media system.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a portal 230 of thecommunication system 100. In FIG. 2, the portal 230 can be accessed by aURL with a common browser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer using anInternet-capable portable communication device 116. The portal 230 canbe configured to access a media receiver 106 such as the STB of FIG. 1and services managed thereby such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), anElectronic Programming Guide (EPG), Video on Demand (VoD) catalog, apersonal catalog stored in the STB (e.g., personal videos, pictures,audio recordings, etc.), and so on by way of the gateway 104.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary method 300 operating in portions of thecommunication system 100. Method 300 begins with step 302 in which amedia receiver 106 such as the STB of FIG. 1 collects by common means aviewing history of media programs selected by the subscriber of saidSTB. The viewing history can correspond to TV programs, VoD movies, DVRrecordings, and other services of the STB experienced in whole or inpart by the subscriber. The viewing history progressively collected canbe stored in a memory of the STB and purged if desired by thesubscriber. The history collected can be in the form of metadataassociated with media programs which can be stored efficiently withoututilizing excessive storage resources of the STB.

In step 304, the STB can be programmed to scan the EPG for redundantmedia programs. For example, a particular TV show or movie may playseveral times during the day, week, or month. Rather than maintain aflat presentation structure based on a calendar viewing structure usedby prior EPGs, the STB can scan for multiple viewings of the same mediaprogram, and group each media program in step 306. From the collectedviewing history of the subscriber, and from the redundant groupings ofredundant media programs, the STB can be programmed in step 308 toreorganize the EPG so that redundant viewings are collapsed in onelocation, and programs already viewed are isolated. The end result wouldbe a media program guide (MPG) corresponding to the reorganized EPG.

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary embodiments of the MPG. FIG. 4 is illustrativeof three embodiments for presenting the MPG. It would be appreciated byone ordinary skill in the art that there can be innumerable embodimentsof the MPG. However, the embodiments of FIG. 4 are sufficient to directan artisan of ordinary skill in the art to determine those embodimentsnot described herein. With this in mind, the MPG can be organized intosub-groupings. In a first Graphical User Interface (GUI) window(“Upcoming Programming”) the sub-groupings can be as follows: “Sports,”“Movies,” “Family,” “Previous Viewings”, and “All.” “Sports” can be agrouping for all media programs related to sports. “Movies” can be agrouping for movies (TV, VoD, or DVR). “Family” can be a grouping forall family oriented media programs (e.g., Nickelodeon, Disney, etc.).“All” can be a grouping that aggregates all the previous groupingstogether.

It will be appreciated by an artisan of ordinary skill in the art thatmore or less sub-groupings can be used, and that the categories forthese groupings can be varied by the service provider of thecommunication system 100 and/or customized by the subscriber by definingmedia preferences. In a first embodiment (I) a subscriber can select the“All” grouping which in turn opens another GUI window depicting allmedia programs in alphabetical order. When the subscriber selects aparticular media program (e.g., “Program A”), a third GUI window ispresented which shows all calendar viewing times and channels with callletters for said program. This grouping is generated by the redundancyscan and grouping steps 304-306 of FIG. 3. Similarly, the STB can beprogrammed to use the viewing history collected in step 302 to segregateprevious viewings in another grouping (“Previous Viewings”) to avoidcrowding the other sub-groupings with shows already presented to thesubscriber. Method 300 thus provides the subscriber a substantially moreefficient means to navigate through media programs than the cumbersomeEPG architecture used by prior art in which media programs are presentedin a standard calendar format.

In a second embodiment (II) of FIG. 4 a subscriber can navigate throughthe MPG and select the “Movies” grouping which in turn presents a GUIwindow of media programs associated only with movies. As beforeselection of “Program A” generates another GUI window associated onlywith Program A and its viewing times in a calendar period. In a thirdembodiment (III) selecting the “Movies” generates a GUI window withmovies subcategorized by genre (e.g., Action movies, Honor movies, andso on). Selection of the “Action” genre generates another GUI windowwith media programs associated with action movies. Selection of ProgramA presents yet another GUI window with the viewing times of said programin a calendar period.

It should be evident that “Program A” in the aforementioned threeembodiments of FIG. 4 can be different media programs. It should also beevident to an artisan of ordinary sill in the art that any GUIpresentation method can be used to present the sub-groupings shown inFIG. 4.

Referring back to FIG. 3, in step 310 the STB can monitor for a requestfor presentation of the MPG. If the request comes from a mediacontroller 107 located in building 102, the MPG is presented by the STBin step 312 at a media presentation device such as shown in reference108 of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the request for the MPG can arise from aremote access request generated by the portal 230 in step 314. In thisembodiment, a portable communication device 116 roaming thecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1 (e.g., a cell phone or lap top) logsinto a broadcast media portal 230 via an Internet browser in step 316.The computing devices 130 operate as a web server of the broadcast mediaportal which serve a multiplicity of subscribers of the IPTV, satellite,and/or cable system depicted by FIG. 1. The portable 230 can be accessedby common means (e.g., URL) and a subscriber account can be identifiedby a user's login information (e.g., username and password).

Once a subscriber has logged in, the portal 230 can be programmed todetect in step 318 a request from the Internet browser to navigate theMPG by way of the media receiver 106 (e.g., STB) associated with thesubscriber. The request can arise from a selection of a GUI element inthe portal 230 (e.g., a hypertext link or icon associated with the STB).In response to said request, the portal 230 can be programmed in step320 to establish communications with the STB by way of the gateway 104using a unicast channel of the IPTV network, or the ISP network 132. Inthis step, the portal 230 can supply authentication information to thegateway 104 to provide secure access to the STB 106. In step 322, theSTB supplies the portal information associated by the MPG. In this stepthe portal 230 can reformat the MPG into an HTML format that ispresented in step 324 at the Internet browser of the portablecommunication device 116. The MPG can be presented at the Internetbrowser according to the embodiments of FIG. 4.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. For example, method 300 can bemodified to remove all previously viewed media programs from the MPG.Method 300 can be applied to an EPG associated with a VoD catalog, DVRrecordings, or any other suitable type of media program guides. Method300 can also be utilized by other network elements of the mediacommunication system 100, in which case the STB already receives areorganized EPG and there is no need for the STB to perform thereorganization steps of method 300.

These are but a few examples of modifications that can be applied to thepresent disclosure without departing from the scope of the claims.Accordingly, the reader is directed to the claims section for a fullerunderstanding of the breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 500 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed above. In some embodiments, the machine operatesas a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly anyelectronic device that provides voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 500 may include a processor 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 504 and a static memory 506, which communicate with each othervia a bus 508. The computer system 500 may further include a videodisplay unit 510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system500 may include an input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 514 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 516, a signal generationdevice 518 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 520.

The disk drive unit 516 may include a machine-readable medium 522 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 524)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 524may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 504, the static memory 506, and/or within the processor 502during execution thereof by the computer system 500. The main memory 504and the processor 502 also may constitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 524, or that which receives and executes instructions 524from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 526 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 526 using the instructions 524. Theinstructions 524 may further be transmitted or received over a network526 via the network interface device 520.

While the machine-readable medium 522 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; andcarrier wave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions ina transmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail orother self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one ormore of a machine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listedherein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, inwhich the software implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storagedevice, comprising computer instructions which, responsive to beingexecuted by a processor of a media receiver, cause the processor toperform operations comprising: generating metadata representative of aviewing history of media programs that have been at least partiallypresented by the media receiver; providing the metadata to a remoteserver over a network; providing to the remote server, a request forgenerating a reorganized electronic programming guide that is limited toavailable media programs that have not been viewed by the mediareceiver, wherein the request causes the remote server to reorganize andmodify an electronic programming guide associated with the mediareceiver according to the viewing history to generate the reorganizedelectronic programming guide, wherein the reorganized electronicprogramming guide excludes the media programs that have been at leastpartially presented by the media receiver; and receiving the reorganizedelectronic programming guide at the media receiver without the mediareceiver reorganizing the reorganized electronic programming guide. 2.The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 1, whereinthe operations further comprise presenting the reorganized electronicprogramming guide at a display device coupled with the media receiver.3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 1,wherein the request causes the remote server to reorganize and modifythe electronic programming guide associated with the media receiveraccording to a grouping of redundant media programs, wherein thegrouping of redundant media programs is collapsed into single locations.4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 1,wherein the reorganized electronic programming guide comprisesvideo-on-demand content.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storagedevice of claim 1, wherein the reorganized electronic programming guidecomprises recorded content.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the network comprises an interactivetelevision network.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storagedevice of claim 1, wherein the network comprises an internet protocoltelevision communication system.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the providing of the metadata to theremote server causes the remote server to provide the reorganizedelectronic programming guide to a mobile device.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the reorganizedelectronic programming guide includes a plurality of sub-groupingscomprising a plurality of genre groups, a plurality of media programseach placed in a corresponding genre group, and a plurality of viewingtimes for each of the plurality of media programs.
 10. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise performing text searches of the reorganizedelectronic programming guide.
 11. A server comprising: a memory to storecomputer instructions; and a processor coupled with the memory, whereinthe processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions,performs operations comprising: receiving over a network, metadatarepresentative of a viewing history of media programs at a mediareceiver, wherein the viewing history identifies the media programs thathave been at least partially presented by the media receiver; receivinga request for a media guide that is limited to available media programsthat have not been presented by the media receiver; obtaining anelectronic programming guide associated with the media receiver;scanning the electronic programming guide for redundant media programs;grouping the redundant media programs to generate grouped media programsbased on the request for the electronic programming guide; reorganizingand modifying the electronic programming guide according to the groupedmedia programs and the viewing history to generate a reorganizedelectronic programming guide, wherein the reorganizing and modifyingincludes removing from the electronic programming the media programsidentified by the viewing history as at least partially presented by themedia receiver, and wherein the reorganized electronic programming guideis not subject to further reorganization by the media receiver.
 12. Theserver of claim 11, wherein the viewing history is collected by andstored at the media receiver, and wherein the metadata is received fromthe media receiver.
 13. The server of claim 11, wherein the operationsfurther comprise providing the reorganized electronic programming guideto a mobile device for presentation without the mobile devicereorganizing the reorganized electronic programming guide.
 14. Theserver of claim 13, wherein the request for the media guide is receivedvia a remote web server based on an input to the mobile device incommunication with the remote web server, and wherein the redundantmedia programs are collapsed into single locations.
 15. The server ofclaim 11, wherein the operations further comprise providing thereorganized electronic programming guide to the media receiver forpresentation by the media receiver.
 16. The server of claim 11, whereinthe reorganized electronic programming guide comprises a first windowincluding sub-categories of content, a second window including genresassociated with the sub-categories and being accessible via a firstselection from the first window, a third window including a firstsub-set of the media programs that are associated with the genres andare accessible via a second selection from the second window, and afourth window comprising a plurality of viewing times for a secondsub-set of the media programs and are accessible via a third selectionfrom the third window.
 17. A method comprising: receiving, by a systemincluding a processor, metadata representative of a viewing history ofmedia programs at a media receiver, wherein the viewing historyidentifies the media programs that have been at least partiallypresented by the media receiver; receiving, by the system, a request fora media guide that is limited to available media programs that have notbeen viewed at the media receiver; obtaining, by the system, anelectronic programming guide associated with the media receiver;reorganizing and modifying the electronic programming guide, by thesystem, according to the viewing history to generate a reorganizedelectronic programming guide, wherein the reorganizing and modifyingincludes removing from the electronic programming guide the mediaprograms identified by the viewing history as at least partiallypresented by the media receiver; and providing, by the system, thereorganized electronic programming guide to the media receiver withoutthe media receiver reorganizing the reorganized electronic programmingguide.
 18. The method of claim 17, comprising: scanning, by the system,the electronic programming guide for redundant media programs; andgrouping, by the system, the redundant media programs to generategrouped media programs based on the request for the media guide, whereinthe reorganizing and modifying of the electronic programming guide isbased on the grouped media programs, and wherein the redundant mediaprograms are collapsed into single locations.
 19. The method of claim17, wherein the reorganized electronic programming guide comprises afirst window including sub-categories of content, a second windowincluding genres associated with the sub-categories and being accessiblevia a first selection from the first window, a third window including afirst sub-set of the media programs that are associated with the genresand are accessible via a second selection from the second window, and afourth window comprising a plurality of viewing times for a secondsub-set of the media programs and are accessible via a third selectionfrom the third window.
 20. The method of claim 17, comprising:receiving, by the system, a second request for the media guide via aremote web server based on an input to a mobile device in communicationwith the remote web server; and responsive to the second request,providing, by the system, the reorganized electronic programming guideto the mobile device for presentation without the mobile devicereorganizing the reorganized electronic programming guide.